Value and Profit
An Introduction to Measurement in Financial Reporting

The measurement methods used in financial accounting affect our perception of the value and performance of businesses by determining the amount of reported profit or loss and the resources of the business. Thus, measurement affects shareholders and other stakeholders in the business. It has even been suggested that the world financial crisis of 2007?2010 was partly due to the mis-measurement of financial instruments. In this book, Geoffrey Whittington provides a unique survey of the theory and practice of measurement in financial accounts. It seeks to define and illustrate alternative methods, using simple numerical examples, and to analyse their theoretical properties. Also, it summarises extensive empirical evidence and the historical development of ideas and practice. It is essential reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying financial accounting, as well as practitioners and policy-makers concerned with accounting standards.

1. An introduction to the measurement problem in financial accounting; 2. Fundamentals; 3. Historical cost accounting; 4. Current value accounting 1; 5. Inflation and the general price level; 6. Current value systems 2: capital maintenance concepts and real terms accounting; 7. Review; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Geoffrey Whittington is a Senior Research Associate of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, Judge Business School, Cambridge and a founding member of the International Accounting Standards Board, London (2001–6). He is the author of numerous publications and essays on financial accounting, including The Elements of Accounting (Cambridge, 1992) and The Debate on Inflation Accounting with David Tweedie (Cambridge, 1984).